[HPforGrownups] Binding magical contracts

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 48280

Polaris wrote:
> This question brings me to another one (I'm sorry, this post seems to add
> more questions instead of bringing possible answers!) -- the kids write
> their name on a piece of parchment and from that they are chosen?  Based
> on what? Yes, in GoF Dumbledore (I think it was Dumbledore) says what the
> champions will be based upon, but how does the goblet know the
> characteristics of the kids?   At first I was thinking, perhaps the
> essence of the student is in the handwriting -- but of course, Harry
> didn't put his name in, so that doesn't make sense.

Minor clarification here:  The kids were supposed to put their name *and*
school on the parchment.  Harry's parchment didn't have a school, just his name
(or, at least, Dumbledore didn't read a school from it; some have speculated
that another school name was used).  So the Goblet's job is to select the best
student from each school, based on whatever criteria it has.  It doesn't know
about age restrictions, or what schools are involved, and it apparently doesn't
even know how to count to 3.  By submitting Harry's name with no school or a
fictitious school, his name was *guaranteed* to be selected, since his name was
the only one submitted for that "school".

As to your actual question, how does the Goblet know who to select from all of
the names within a given school, I can't answer that.  I have speculated that
it's really just the luck of the draw, and a student's willingness to
participate is enough to qualify them.  This is why Dumbledore set up the Age
Line, and told the students to be very sure they wanted to participate, because
if a student with minimal skills enters (like Neville if he were old enough),
he has just as much chance of being selected as anyone else.  In other words,
the students themselves must decide whether they feel their abilities are up to
the task, and the Goblet just spits out a name at random from the ones
submitted for a particular school.  This might explain Fleur's
less-than-stellar performance; perhaps she wasn't the best suited student from
Beauxbatons; she just had the chutzpah to enter.  Of course, she mostly fell
flat on the second task because of the Grindylow, and perhaps that was just
something they don't teach at Beauxbatons.  The third task wasn't fair, and she
did succeed moderately on the first.

I'm not sure I believe that the Goblet just chooses blindly, but it could be
the magical equivalent of a lottery machine, with no real brains beyond what I
have described.  You may now rip my theory to shreds, since I don't have any
ego investment in it, I just thought I'd bring it up and see if it holds water.

Sherry


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

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